AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.

SPEND! SPEND! SPEND!(Tyco Internaitonal CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski)

The New Yorker

| February 17, 2003 | Stewart, James B. | COPYRIGHT 2003 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)Copyright

On a Friday afternoon last May, Mark Belnick, the general counsel of Tyco International, the giant industrial conglomerate, hurried into the Boca Raton office of the company's chairman and chief executive officer, L. Dennis Kozlowski. Belnick had with him a copy of a grand-jury subpoena that had just been served on the company, and that named Kozlowski personally.

Kozlowski stared at the text, which called for documents "reflecting all transactions between Tyco International . . . and Alexander Apsis or Alexander Apsis Fine Arts, LLC from 1999 to the present." The subpoena evidently concerned some paintings that Kozlowski had bought the previous year, after he had decided to become a serious art collector. They included a Monet and a Renoir. For the Monet, he had paid $3.95 million; for the Renoir, $5.5 million.

After studying the subpoena, Kozlowski picked up the phone and called Christine Berry, who worked for Fine Collections Management, in West Palm Beach, and was Kozlowski's art adviser. She had taken him to various galleries and negotiated the purchase of the paintings. According to Kozlowski, the following conversation ensued:

"Who did we buy the Monet from?" he asked.

Berry answered that the seller was Alexander Apsis, a dealer and former specialist for Sotheby's in London and New York. Without mentioning that he'd just received a subpoena, Kozlowski began questioning Berry about the purchase of the painting and the details of its delivery to his office at Tyco's headquarters, in Exeter, New Hampshire. "Do you mind if my lawyer gets on the phone?" Kozlowski asked.

Berry didn't answer immediately. By having the art shipped to New Hampshire, Kozlowski had avoided paying New York State's 8.25-per-cent sales tax--some $325,000 on the Monet alone. She told Kozlowski that she didn't want to talk to the lawyer, and needed to check her records and get back to him.

Three days later, on Monday, May 6th, Berry sent Kozlowski a fax:

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, and more
Kozlowski guilty of big biz ripoff.(News)
Newspaper article from: The Boston Herald Arends, Brett June 18, 2005 700+ words
...often sleep in dormitories. Kozlowski, a high-profile convict...be scant comfort to Karen Kozlowski, the former New Hampshire lobsterman's wife who was...spending executive. Dennis Kozlowski threw her a now-infamous...
Kozlowski charged in alleged multimillion-dollar fraud.
Newspaper article from: Chicago Tribune (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service) September 12, 2002 700+ words
...After the arraignment, Kozlowski attorney Stephen Kaufman...Helmsley, said, "Dennis Kozlowski was a recognized business...maintained his innocence. Kozlowski, the longtime chairman and...but has executive offices in New Hampshire, engineered a rapid series...
Tyco Files Suit Against Former Chairman and CEO, L. Dennis Kozlowski for...
Press release article from: PR Newswire September 12, 2002 700+ words
...specific actions through which Kozlowski failed in his duties to Tyco...relocate to New York City, Kozlowski transformed a Compensation...sanctioned by the Board. Kozlowski obtained these substantial...He sold his Exeter, New Hampshire home to the Company fo
Derecktor stuck with Kozlowski's megayacht.(Derecktor Shipyards)(L. Dennis...
Magazine article from: Fairfield County Business Journal Strempel, Dan November 11, 2002 700+ words
...past, but none recently Kozlowski and two other former top...boys During his tenure, Kozlowski acquired luxury homes in New Hampshire, Nantucket, Mass., and...hockey's New Jersey Devils. Kozlowski, 55, already owned Endeavour...
Kozlowski pleads innocent in NY court.
News wire article from: United Press International June 4, 2002 700+ words
...Exchange. The company said Kozlowski resigned for "personal reasons...2001, through Monday, Kozlowski and his conspirators avoided...valued at $13.1 million. Kozlowski and his co-conspirators...reflecting the receipt, in New Hampshire, of artwork in an effort...
Payback time; Another art-world scandal.(The fine art of sales-tax...
Magazine article from: The Economist (US) June 15, 2002 700+ words
...indictment against Mr Kozlowski alleges that the...to his office in New Hampshire (thus evading...including Mr Kozlowski, deny any wrongdoing...allegedly taken to New Hampshire, and signed for by Mr Kozlowski's assistant...
Tyco CEO Helped to Halt Proposed Income Tax System in New Hampshire.
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News June 6, 2002 700+ words
...creation of a New Hampshire income tax system...years, Dennis Kozlowski has systematically...choosing to live in New Hampshire, one of nine...in tax-free New Hampshire, though the...Avenue apartment. Kozlowski has refused to...
Tyco Sells $25 M. Apartment Where Dennis Kozlowski Lived In Contract--But No...
Newspaper article from: The New York Observer (New York, NY) August 9, 2004 700+ words
...at 740 Park Avenue). Mr. Kozlowski soon added $13 million worth...real estate that spurred Mr. Kozlowski's penchant for wild spending...challenging task for the Bermuda and New Hampshire-based company. In late...have been cleared up: Mr. Kozlowski's attorney, Stephen Kaufman...
For more facts and information, see all results
©2009 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
About us | FAQs | Contact us | Privacy policy | Terms and conditions
Other Gale sites: Encyclopedia.com | HighBeam Research | Acquire Content | Books & Authors | Goliath | MovieRetriever | Smart QandA